Into The Night
by lone-poppy
Summary: Ronon/Keller - What would happen if Ronon was really hurt? first part K will go to M as fic continues
1. M1N482

Title - Into the Night – BETA COPY

Pairing – Ronon/Keller

Rating – K 

Spoiler – I started to write this after Missing but anything upto 4x12 just to be safe.

Disclaimer – Not mine, and they never will be.

Thank you – A big thank you to my beta scoob2222

xxxxxx

_**M1N-482, Pegasus Galaxy – Tuesday 14:00**_

"You said they were friendly!" John yelled at Rodney in between bursts of gunfire as they fell in behind a fallen tree, where Ronon and Keller had taken cover just a few yards from the gate.

"I really don't think that now is the appropriate time for this discussion." Rodney had managed to get himself tucked completely behind a tree, to the point that he was now all but lying on his gun. "Do you?"

Ignoring Rodney's last remark John scanned the stand of trees near the gate and guessed it would only be a matter of minutes before the small group of armed men surrounded them and cut off their access to the gate. It was at that moment that he looked over at Ronon and noticed that he'd torn off the sleeve of his shirt and was wrapping it around the lower half of Keller's leg. "What happened?"

"She got hit," was Ronon's short reply.

John guessed that Keller was in too much pain to answer, despite the fact that she was doing her best not to show it. "Rodney, dial the gate."

"Why me?"

"Fine, Ronon can dial the gate. We'll cover him and you can carry Keller through." John stopped talking long enough to spray the thick covering of trees with bullets in hope of holding off their attackers long enough for them to make it home.

"I'll get the gate."

"You do that." John said as he watched Rodney make a break for the gate before turning his attention back to the approaching villagers. "As soon as Rodney gets the gate open take Keller and I'll cover you."

xxxxxx

**GateRoom, Atlantis – Tuesday 14:06 **

"We need a medical team." Colonel Carter called as she started down the stairs toward Ronon and Jennifer. "I thought you said it was just a leg wound?"

"It is," Jen drew in a deep breath, up until now she had been to scared to look at her own leg, too far away from help if it was worse than she thought. Now she was back on Atlantis and it was finally safe for her to look down. It took a few moments for her eyes to register what she was seeing, the growing pool of blood at her feet and only seconds later she felt Ronon's hand release her waist just before he hit the floor. "Its not my blood." Jen said her voice almost a whisper. "Its not my blood."

xxxxxx


	2. Infirmary

xxxxxx

"What happened?" Jen asked as she turned continuously on the gurney that was being used to take her to the infirmary. "I need to exam him."

"You're not going anywhere," Teyla said as she grabbed Jen's hand, "Doctor Coldear is accessing Ronon. You need to worry about yourself."

"I want to see Doctor Coldear." Jen said as she was wheeled into the infirmary.

"I think he is a little busy right now." Teyla said as her eyes differed over to Ronon.

"Just get someone to tell me what is going on," Jen tried to pull Teyla's attention back to her. 'God these people worked for her, she should be able to get someone to tell her what was happening.' "Teyla … please tell me what happened?"

"It appears that Ronon was shoot in the abdomen."

xxxxxx

_**Infirmary – 21:12**_

Jen had managed to get herself out of bed and all the way to the other end of the infirmary; the secluded end that was reserved for seriously injured personnel. This is where she would find Ronon. No one would tell her his condition; she had wanted to make the trip as soon as she had heard that Ronon was out of surgery but Teyla wouldn't leave until she promised to get some rest.

She hadn't thought of Ronon ever being the one hurt. Not like this; not seriously. Never thought of him being so helpless. He could look after himself, and everyone around him. Ronon was strong, he never got hurt, but now she stood frozen just a few feet from his bed to scared to actually look at him laying unconscious in her infirmary.

"Doc?" John's tone was soft as he emerged from the shadows in the far corner of the room.

It took a moment for Jen to respond, to trust herself to look up at John. "He carried me all the way from the village … he never said anything."

"He wouldn't." John stepped closer to Jennifer and dragged a chair along with him so that she could take the weight off her injured leg. "His only concern would have been getting everyone back to Atlantis."

"I'm a doctor, he should have said something." Jen moved a little uncomfortably in the chair wanting to get closer to Ronon and at the same time making sure she kept her distance. "But instead he was dressing my leg, he was bleeding and I didn't even notice." She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, hoping that John didn't see the tears that had began to well there. "I've been off world twice and I've managed to get myself and the person I was with hurt both times."

"This is not your fault, nor was Teyla." John hesitated for a few seconds before placing his hand on her shoulder. "I think that maybe you should go back to bed and rest."

"I just want to stay here for a little while." Jen turned her head toward John and did her best to give him a reassuring smile. "I won't be long."

Jen waited until she couldn't hear John's footsteps anymore before pulling herself closer to the edge of Ronon's bed, taking a deep breath she wrapped her hands around the railing and pulled herself back up. She focused on the monitors delaying the inevitable for a few more moments before she finally forced herself to look down. It was worse than she imagined, his face was sheet white with the one exception of the almost black circles around his eyes.

Glancing around to ensure that they really were on their own before Jen leaned in so her mouth was just inches from his ear, "I'm sorry," her voice was barely above a whispered, as Jen pulled away from him she ran her hand softly across his forehead and let her fingers trail down his arm into his hand.

xxxxxx

_**Infirmary – 23:55**_

John smiled at the young technician as he passed the entrance to the infirmary, turning to watch him as he disappeared around the corner. It was late but the infirmary always had this soft sort of glow about it that John couldn't stand, for whatever reason they insisted that the lights be on, no matter the time. It was one of the reasons he hated spending the night in this place; he was never able to sleep with so much light around him. He knew that Ronon wouldn't have a problem with the light, he just had a problem sleeping.

So coming to visit him a midnight wasn't going to be a problem.

And sure enough he was awake, only he still had company. Doctor Keller was exactly where John left her; she was sitting in the chair that he'd placed next to the bed, only now her head was resting on the edge of the bed. Apparently she didn't have any problems sleeping with the lights on.

Even through the glass John could see that Ronon's eyes were focused on her. "Hey big guy." John said in low tones.

Ronon flicked his eyes up at the shock of hearing John's voice. "Hey." His voice was as gruff as normal, if somewhat hushed.

"Do you want me to come back … I can come back." John pointed back toward the entrance to the infirmary.

"No," Ronon's eyes flicked back down to Jennifer. "Just don't want to wake her."

"She's exhausted … I'm still not sure how she got herself in here with that foot of hers?" John guessed by the look on Ronon's face that he had only just remembered that she was hurt. "She's fine. It was more of graze."

Ronon's eyes once again fell to the sleeping Jennifer. "She couldn't walk."

"Why didn't you tell me you were hit?"

"We needed to get back," Ronon didn't lift his eyes as he spoke.

"We would have got her back safe." John remarked as he guessed what Ronon wasn't willing to admit to anyone but himself.

xxxxxx


	3. Bitter Tears

_**Personnel Quarters Level 4 – Monday 8:10am**_

The door chime pulled Ronon's attention away from the movie he was watching to the clock that sat next to his bed. It was about this time everyday that someone from the medical department came to check on him. It hadn't escaped his notice that it was a different person each time.

A bare chested Ronon narrowed his eyes as he waved his hand in front of the door release. "What!" The sharp greeting was out of his mouth before he saw who was on the other side and he couldn't pull it back anymore than he could change the tone of his voice as his eyes focused on her small frame that was still supported by crutches.

Jennifer took a visible breath before she spoke. "They said you checked yourself out of the infirmary."

"So did you" It had been almost a week and he hadn't seen her since that first night in the infirmary, he'd fallen asleep only to wake up and find her gone. It had taken almost two days for the pain to subside enough for him to be able to even sit up, it was another day before her was able to pull himself out of bed and sole purpose was to check on her, but she wasn't in the infirmary and her quarters were empty.

"Yes but I didn't have major surgery and seeing as you've scared everyone else off I'm here to dress your wound." Jennifer pushed passed him and dropped the backpack on the floor next to his bed and waited.

He could feel her eyes scanning his body as he laid himself back down onto the bed with his legs hanging far enough over the edge of the bed to be touching the floor.

She'd left Atlantis without a word to anyone but Colonel Cater and all she would tell Ronon was that Doctor Keller had taken some personal leave, no firm date had been set for her return. The doctor would be back when she was ready. Ronon wasn't sure what that meant, so he'd taken it to mean that she was probably never going to return to Atlantis.

Only here she was, in his room. Ronon pulled one arm up and tucked it under his head so he could watch as she removed the dressing. He liked to watch her work, she transformed from someone who always looked a little scared to the person he saw now. She was so calm and gentle, but also strong and in control. He thought it was like this that she looked the most beautiful.

"Does this hurt?" Jennifer asked as she began to press along to edge of the incision.

"Pain is mostly gone." He smiled hoping to ease the tension in the room. "Mostly just tired."

"Well most people wouldn't even be out of bed yet, the pain alone would be enough to stop them from even sitting up." Jennifer began to redress the wound, her hands cautiously pressed around the edge of the bandage. "Are you sure this doesn't hurt?"

"Didn't hurt much to start with." Ronon said hoping that his casual tone would disguise the lie.

"You were shoot." A mix of shock and disbelief rang loud in Jennifer's voice as she spoke.

"Not the first time." Ronon sat up and grabbed a shirt that was resting on the arm of a chair he never used, raising both arms up over his head he let it fall down and cover both his chest and the bandages. "I wasn't sure you'd come back." He said as he watch her start to pack her medical supplies back into her pack.

"What?"

"One night you were asleep in my room and the next day you were gone."

"I needed to see my father." Jennifer paused as she spoke, "He doesn't know what I do here." A hiccup of a smile washed across her face. "He doesn't even know what here is." She turned and looked him in the eye for the first time since she arrived at his door. "He doesn't know what a mess I've made of things … he is still proud of his little girl."

She'd lost that look of confidence; it was like she packed it into that bag with all her bandages. "You're scared?" Ronon wondered just how much she would tell him or if she was already began to pull away.

"Not scared … I just don't belong here … look at you." Jen held out her hand and waved it over his stomach. "If it had been Teyla or Colonel Cater with you instead of me you wouldn't have had to worry about where they were, you wouldn't have had to cover them and you wouldn't … you wouldn't have been hurt."

"I get hit all the time," He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to him. "What made you come to Atlantis?" He thought she almost looked surprised by the question, like no one had ever asked her.

"My father," She let her eyes fall and focus on her hands that were twisting in her lap. "When I was little I remember he would always read this one book over and over again" She turned her eyes up to look at him. "My mother passed away almost 5 years ago and … my father …" Jennifer stopped swallowing hard before she continued. "After the funeral he stood next her grave like he was waiting for her to come back. It was pouring rain and we just stood there."

Ronon reached over and slipped his hand around hers and gently squeezed them hoping that it steady her just enough to continue.

"And he pulled that book from his jacket pocket and just started to read, '_The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.'_ He closed the book and handed it to me and told me make sure I didn't have any regrets."

"So you came to Atlantis." His voice fell to a quite and gentle tone.

"I'd always been scared." Jennifer broke into a soft, awkward laugh as she continued. "Scared of everything but mostly scared that I would fail; I'm all that my Dad has left and I've worked so hard not to disappoint him. But I did this for me." Jennifer's eyes rested on his hand that was wrapped so tightly around hers. "When they asked me to come here, I was so scared but I wanted to do this for me."

Ronon released her hand and ran his hand softly up her arm, turning it as he did so his knuckles dragged delicately over her cheek before he pushed his fingers thought her hair coming to rest at the base of her neck. "Jen," It was the first time he'd used her name and he waited until she lifted her head to look at him. "Are you scared now?"

"No."


End file.
